Rail-brace.



PATENTEB JUNE 30,1903.

' J D. 1) QUENELL.

'RAIL BRAGE.

APPLIGATION'FILED MAR. 14, 1903.

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1). D. QUENELL. RAIL BRACE} APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1903.

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'PATENTI'ED' JUNE 30, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

RAlL-BRAC E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,653, dated June 30, 1903.

Application filed March 14, 1903.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID D. QUENELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Riparia, in the county of Whitman and State of Washington, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail-Braces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail-braces, and is particularly designed for use in connection with railway-rails, its object being to provide a simple, durable, and eflicient brace which can be secured to a stringer or tie intermediate the ends of the rail, so as to prevent a displacement thereof and to preserve the integrity of the track.

With this object in view the invention consists in providing a brace and fish-plate combined, the fish-plate having an opening which is arranged in line with a similar opening in the web of the rail, the web andfish-plate being secured together by a single bolt.

The invention further consists in forming a brace with an inwardly-projecting underlying tongue or flange which fits against the adjacent parallel stringers or ties to which it is secured, so that when the fish-plate or vertical flange thereof is secured to the web of the rail said rail will beheld against creeping.

The novel construction of the device will be clearly set forth hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a railway road-bed, showing the application of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged crosssectional view through a rail and opposing braces, the bolt being shown in elevation. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the braces. Fig. 5 is a rear perspective view of the brace, and Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a slightly-modified form conforming to a curved rail.

The reference-numeral 1 designates a rail applied to the stringers or ties 2 in the usual manner.

The-rails as usually applied are liable to creep or move longitudinally of the track, due to the continual pounding of the wheels of the car, as they pass over the rails in one direction only.

It is the purpose of this invention to obvi- Serial No. 147,827. (No model.)

ate this difficulty, and to this end thebrace or braces are secured to the rails and to the ties between the ends of the rail. Each brace comprises a longitudinally-disposed and approximately longitudinal plate 3, from one edge of which projects an upwardly-extending flange or fish plate 4, formed integral therewith. Parallel outwardly projecting tongues or flanges 5 and 6 are formed integral with the edge of the plate 3 opposite to that from which the flange 4 projects. These flanges 5 and 6 are offset on a plane parallel with but below the plane of the plate 3 and are spaced apart by a struck-out portion '7, which is bent under plate 3 to form an underlying tongue resting against the bottom of the base-flange of the rail 1. It-will be observed that the plate 3, theflange 4, and the flanges 5 and 6 are arranged to conform to the shape of the rail to which thebrace is to be'secured. The underlying tongue 7 is of approximately the same width as the distance between the parallel sides of the stringers or ties to which the brace is fastened, so that when a bolt or other fastening device. 8 is passed through the central opening 9 in the flange 4 and through an alining opening in the rail 1 the rail will be held against longitudinal movement, provided the brace is fastened to the ties by spikes or similar fastening devices 10, driven through the perforations 11 in the flanges 5 and 6 and into the ties. In order that the rail will be braced against lateral movement, coinciding braces are secured to the rail on the respective sides of the web, and both braces can readily be fastened to the web of the rail by the bolt 8, as shown in Fig. 3. The brace can be fastened at any suitable point intermediate the ends of the rail; but I prefer to fasten it at about the middle portion thereof, because after the abutting ends of the rails have been secured together by the usual rail-fastenings the rail will need the most support at this point.

The outer rail of the track at a curve is particularly subjected to a severe strain, and in order to counteract or resist the strain I provide a slightly-modified form of brace, which is shownin Fig. 6. In this form the plate 3* is curved to conform to the arc of the baseflange of the rail 1 andan upwardly-projecting arcuate flange or fish-plate 4 is formed on the inner edge of the plate 3 and conforms to the curve of the Web of the rail. In other respects the brace is substantially the same as the form shown in Figs. 1 to 5. Thebrace just described is designed to be secured to the inner side of the curved rail and is assisted by a complementary brace on the outer side, which is designated by the referencennmeral 11. The plate and flange in this form are curved in an opposite direction to the brace just described, so that the walls of the fish-plates of the complementary members will be parallel with each other and parallel with the web of the curved rail to snugly fit against it and prevent a displacement of the rail either laterally or longitudinally.

It will be observed that a brace constructed in accordance with this invention can be either cast or formed of suitable flexible metal, and in order to apply it no alteration need be made in the rail or track except to provide an openingor perforation in the web of the rail to coincide or aline with the alining openings in the opposing braces.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. The combination with a plurality ofcross ties or stringers, of a rail secured thereto and having an opening formed in the web thereof, a combined brace and fish-plate comprising an approximately horizontal plate resting on the base of the rail, an upwardly-projecting fish-plate or flange formed integral with the inner edge of the plate and having an opening which is arranged in line with the opening in the web of the rail, a bolt projecting through the alining openings to secure the web and fish-plate together, outwardly-projecting flanges formed on the plate at the edge opposite to that from which the fish-plate projects, said flanges having openings, fastening devices projecting through the openings and into the ties on which the flanges rest, and an inwardly projecting underlying tongue formed between the flanges and abutting against the sides of the adjacent ties, said tongue extending beneath the under side of the flange of the rail.

2. A brace and fish-plate combined comprising a curved plate approximately horizontally disposed and having an upwardlyprojecting flange formed on one edge thereof, said flange having a central perforation formed therein, horizontally-disposed flanges projecting from the opposite edge of the plate, said flanges being provided with openings for the reception of fastening devices, and a downwardly and inwardly projecting underlying tongue formed on the edge of the plate and between the flanges.

3. A railway-rail brace comprising an approximately horizontal plate, the inner edge of which is curved in arcuate formation, an upwardly projecting and curved flange formed on the curved edge of the plate, outwardly-projecting flanges near the respective ends of the plate, and a downwardly and inwardly extending underlying tongue formed on the plate and formed between the parallel edges of the flanges.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID D. QUENELL.

Witnesses:

IDA STODDARD, J. J. STODDARD. 

